American Idol BETTING: Only TWO MONTHS left!

Nine contestants, only one winner, three judges, Paula Abdul's weird...

Still going: Archuleta (2.18), David Cook (3.15), Johns (12), White (17.5), Smithson (13), Castro (40), Malubay (60), Mercado (32), Kristy Lee Cook (100)

Simon's method of being nice one week, rude the next is starting to become a little bit predictable to the point where even Paula Abdul's feedback is beginning to seem valid. That is a genuine worry, especially considering that this is a woman who has absolutely no idea what she is about to say at any given moment during the day.

This week Chikezie was hurled back onto the streets like a discarded singer.

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David Archuleta
Still by far the favourite to win it, David is beginning to look a little bit too smiley to be real. No child is that happy. Not one. Freakish joy aside, he is consistantly good, occasionally brilliant. A finalist for sure.

David Cook
David is making his mark by morphing gentle pop songs into the angry rants of a maniac, and Simon loves it. This week he made Billie Jean sound like Satan wrote it, next week he's screaming the words of Wake Me Up Before You Go Go into the face of a frightened child. Presumably. Might yet surprise everyone.

Michael Johns
Australian Michael's decision to sing A Day in The Life (essentially a duet) was absolutely ludicrous, but he has gone somewhere to redeeming himself with a heartfelt rendition of We Are The Champions. Two things work against Michael. One, he is too foreign to win. And Two, he has the air of someone who might be a total cock. Time will tell.

Brooke White
After three brilliant weeks in a row, Brooke decided to go all happy-clappy for a completely disgusting take on Here Comes The Sun, and the following week she dicided to rub more turd into our eyes by doing a bit of Sting. She needs to return to Carly Simon territory, and fast. Still the dark horse.

Carly Smithson
Carly started out as the favourite because her voice is great, but unfortunately her total inability to decide what kind of music she likes has meant she can't choose songs. A hunch suggests that her tattoo-faced boyfriend didn't recommend this week's Bonnie Tyler. She should've been a contender.

Jason Castro
Jason is still pretending to be high on drugs - someone needs to have a quiet word. Like Brooke, he decided to destroy all credibility this week by admitting a soft spot for the revolting yoga poser, Sting. He was immediately banished to the bottom three. Lots to do.

Ramiele Malubay
Tiny little Ramiele is surely still there because she seems cute and funny - all her performances so far have been atrocious, and this week she was outsung by her backing singer. She may be benefitting from the same voting bracket that rocketed Filipino American Jasmine Trias into third place (series three).

Syesha Mercado
Good as she is, Syesha has nothing to put her in the same bracket as former RnB winners Jordin Sparks (last year) or Fantasia Barrino (series three). She did a good version of Yesterday, but she comes across a little bit too stage school to be a genuine contender. The public like their Idols a little bit rougher around the edges.

Kristy Lee Cook
Even children - who notoriously like everything - were seen shaking their heads disapprovingly when Kristy sings, and this week, she did some atrocity of a song called America Is THE BEST or something. She has absolutely no chance of winning.